Block’s new data-driven approach to office space
Block’s new data-driven approach to office space changes the way public companies think about launching new markets in the age of AI.
We sat down with Mateo Miranda, Block’s global head of Real Estate, to talk about how Block approached its first new office market since 2019, why the team started with demand rather than a lease, and how data, flexible workspace, and Desana's single MSA structure helped them move from testing demand to opening a new LA office at "tech-like speed".
Find the full case study here.
Listen to the podcast with Mateo and Vincent from Block on the project here.
Q&A with Mateo Miranda, Global Head of Real Estate at Block
Q: Block have not been launching new markets regularly in recent years, how did you think about approaching LA differently?
LA was our first new market at Block since 2019, and we didn’t start the office space search by signing a lease, we started by testing demand.
Block has historically been remote-first, with no office mandate. We still believe offices matter, but only when they serve a clear business purpose, in the right places.
We already hold large leases in a few key markets. But as we continue hiring as a distributed company, we started to see a growing appetite for physical space in markets where we had no office. There was also a strategic need to support collaboration and engagement locally.
The risk was familiar: taking too much space, for too long, in the wrong location, and then watching it go underused. So we took a test-and-learn approach, built around measurement, speed, and optionality.
Q: How did you test whether there was real demand before committing to a fixed office footprint?
We rolled out on-demand workspace access via Desana, so employees could come together when they needed to, aligned to company policy, without us committing to a fixed footprint too early.
That gave the business an immediate collaboration solution. It also gave our real estate team a demand-sensing layer. We were paying for what we used, which kept costs efficient while we learned.
We’ve found our groove with the team at Desana, so launching this kind of offering happened fast. It was aligned with our policies, and we had leadership buy-in.
Q: What did the on-demand usage data help you understand?
The on-demand usage data helped us move from opinions to signals.It showed us the hotspots: where people consistently chose to meet.
It helped us understand demand patterns: how often teams came together, and what “right-sized” looked like.And it gave us stakeholder insight: feedback from the people already using space about what the workplace needed to enable.
Q: Once you had confidence in the demand and location, how did you move from on-demand usage to a longer-term solution?
Once we had confidence in the demand and the location, we needed a solution that met our requirements, but didn’t lock us in for years. Like other large multinationals, legal and procurement processes can take months. In that time, needs can change materially. So in this market, we considered two paths.
One was a traditional lease, with the downside of committing long-term before the business was fully aligned.
The other was flexible workspace, but not just a standard serviced office.
We used Desana’s long-term product to source space across the flexible workspace market, from dedicated offices through to managed solutions delivered on a service agreement.
In this case, the solution involved landlord space from Kilroy, delivered with an operator-style service layer. So effectively, a managed solution.
Crucially, Desana’s enterprise MSA reduced the need for repeated contract negotiation across providers. Desana then worked with the provider to agree to that structure, which helped us move very quickly end-to-end and get to a space that matched our requirements.
Q: What was the outcome in LA?
In our case, that meant a 50-person office with dedicated meeting rooms, and a fit-out aligned with our expectations.
Once we were happy with the site we had selected, often our traditional contract negotiation processes would mean many weeks of back and forth with the workspace provider. One of the key benefits we’ve seen with Desana’s single MSA structure is the ability to remove variability across agreements, meaning our internal processes could move much faster, and in this case to move-in within 30 days, which is unheard of speed for a business of this size.
That tech-like pace within the real estate function aligns well with the core theme at Block today. Across the business, we’re integrating intelligence and agility.
For us as a function within the business, that pace is really beneficial for leadership alignment. And in the age of automation, it helps real estate keep up with the speed of the other functions of the business, while optimizing op-ex and cap-ex along the way.
Q: How are you thinking about the next phase for the LA market?
We’re taking an evolutionary approach in this market.
We’re monitoring occupancy and engagement, and we can supplement the office with on-demand capacity if demand spikes. We’re also evaluating whether to expand further, potentially taking additional space now that we have real usage signals and stakeholder alignment.
Q: What is the broader lesson for other companies thinking about new markets and office commitments?
The broader point is simple: real estate decisions improve when you can test demand, learn quickly, and convert confidence into the right commitment.
It reduces the stigma of overspend and avoids locking in decisions before the business is ready. We think this project in LA represents a blueprint we plan to use in other markets too, as we reestablish offices across the globe where we need to show up for our customers and our team.